U.S. patent application number 12/361415 was filed with the patent office on 2009-08-06 for platform for mobile advertising and persistent microtargeting of promotions.
Invention is credited to Robert C. LEWIS, Giridhar D. MANDYAM.
Application Number | 20090199107 12/361415 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 40932950 |
Filed Date | 2009-08-06 |
United States Patent
Application |
20090199107 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
LEWIS; Robert C. ; et
al. |
August 6, 2009 |
PLATFORM FOR MOBILE ADVERTISING AND PERSISTENT MICROTARGETING OF
PROMOTIONS
Abstract
An end-to-end mobile advertising system characterizes user
behavior (e.g., location, interaction with advertisements on a
mobile communication device, etc.) in order to select
micro-targeted advertisements. A marketplace platform handles the
formatting required for presentation suitable for mobile
communication devices in accordance with negotiated tags for a
desired audience ("reach"), for a suitable number of presentations
("frequency") and for an effective duration ("time") within a
particular scheduled window. Effectiveness is gauged even in the
instance of impression advertisements by monitoring user location
and/or interaction with the communication device to see a change in
behavior (e.g., whether goes to a location of a competitor or
advertiser, calls the advertiser, clips the advertisement, etc.).
This effectiveness is further tracked across applications and/or
platforms to capture reach, frequency, and duration of a particular
advertising campaign for a user. The marketplace platform secures
user identification for privacy reasons from advertising entities
that provide the advertisements.
Inventors: |
LEWIS; Robert C.; (San
Diego, CA) ; MANDYAM; Giridhar D.; (San Diego,
CA) |
Correspondence
Address: |
QUALCOMM INCORPORATED
5775 MOREHOUSE DR.
SAN DIEGO
CA
92121
US
|
Family ID: |
40932950 |
Appl. No.: |
12/361415 |
Filed: |
January 28, 2009 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
61025632 |
Feb 1, 2008 |
|
|
|
Current U.S.
Class: |
715/745 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06Q 30/0269 20130101;
G06Q 30/0271 20130101; G06Q 30/0241 20130101; G06Q 30/0261
20130101; G06F 16/9535 20190101; G06Q 30/0272 20130101; G06Q 20/32
20130101; G06Q 30/0251 20130101; H04N 1/00509 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
715/745 |
International
Class: |
G06F 3/00 20060101
G06F003/00 |
Claims
1. A method for presenting advertisement content on a client
device, comprising: monitoring user interaction with a client
device to determine an opportunity to present an advertisement
within a first computing environment; presenting a selected
advertisement to the user on the client device while tracking an
exposure metric; and monitoring user interaction with a client
device to determine another opportunity to present the selected
advertisement to the user within a second computing environment
while tracking the exposure metric to satisfy an advertising
target.
2. The method of claim 1, further comprising: monitoring user
interaction within the first computing environment of an
application presented on a user interface of the first client
device; and monitoring user interaction within the second computing
environment of another application presented on the user interface
of the first client device.
3. The method of claim 2, further comprising: monitoring user
interaction with the first computing environment of a selected one
of a group consisting of a browser screen, a wireless device menu
screen, and a game console screen; and monitoring user interaction
with the second computing environment of another one of the
group.
4. The method of claim 1, further comprising: monitoring user
interaction within the first computing environment of an
application presented on a user interface of the first client
device; and monitoring user interaction within the second computing
environment of another application presented on a user interface of
a second client device.
5. The method of claim 4, further comprising: sensing a geographic
location of the first client device comprising a mobile
communication device; and determining physical proximity of the
first client device to the second client device.
6. The method of claim 1, further comprising tracking the exposure
metric to satisfy an advertising target defined by a count of times
presented.
7. The method of claim 1, further comprising tracking the exposure
metric to satisfy an advertising target defined by a duration of
time.
8. The method of claim 7, further comprising tracking the exposure
metric to satisfy an advertising target defined both by the
duration of time and a count of times presented.
9. The method of claim 1, further comprising: collecting sensed
behavior data of the user client device for characterizing the
user; receiving the advertisement for presentation selected based
upon the characterization of the user; and correlating and
reporting a user response proximate in time to presentation of the
advertisement to indicate effectiveness.
10. The method of claim 9, further comprising characterizing the
user by correlating a location of the client device with a location
of a business associated with the advertisement.
11. The method of claim 1, wherein monitoring user interaction
comprises detecting recent user control input to a user interface
of the client device.
12. The method of claim 1, further comprising correlating and
reporting a user response proximate in time to presentation of the
advertisement to indicate effectiveness.
13. The method of claim 12, further comprising correlating, and
reporting the user response by detecting a user interaction with
the presented advertisement on a user interface of the client
device.
14. The method of claim 12, further comprising correlating, and
reporting the user response by identifying a location of the first
client device comprising a mobile communication device as
corresponding to a business associated with the advertisement.
15. The method of claim 12, further comprising correlating, and
reporting the user response by determining that the user made a
call to a business associated with the advertisement.
16. The method of claim 12, further comprising correlating, and
reporting the user response by determining that the user activated
a link in the advertisement to automatically dial the business
associated with the advertisement.
17. The method of claim 12, further comprising correlating, and
reporting the user response by determining that the user made an
input to save the advertisement for further access via a user
interface of the client device.
18. The method of claim 12, further comprising depersonalizing the
report of the user response by removing user identification.
19. At least one processor configured to present advertisement
content on a client device, comprising: a module for monitoring
user interaction with a client device to determine an opportunity
to present an advertisement within a first computing environment; a
module for presenting a selected advertisement to the user on the
client device while tracking an exposure metric; and a module for
monitoring user interaction with a client device to determine
another opportunity to present the selected advertisement to the
user within a second computing environment while tracking the
exposure metric to satisfy an advertising target.
20. A computer program product to present advertisement content on
a client device, comprising: a computer-readable medium comprising:
at least one instruction for causing a computer to monitor user
interaction with a client device to determine an opportunity to
present an advertisement within a first computing environment; at
least one instruction for causing a computer to present a selected
advertisement to the user on the client device while tracking an
exposure metric; and at least one instruction for causing a
computer to monitor user interaction with a client device to
determine another opportunity to present the selected advertisement
to the user within a second computing environment while tracking
the exposure metric to satisfy an advertising target.
21. An apparatus for presenting advertisement content on a client
device, comprising: means for monitoring user interaction with a
client device to determine an opportunity to present an
advertisement within a first computing environment; means for
presenting a selected advertisement to the user on the client
device while tracking an exposure metric; and means for monitoring
user interaction with a client device to determine another
opportunity to present the selected advertisement to the user
within a second computing environment while tracking the exposure
metric to satisfy an advertising target.
22. An apparatus for presenting advertisement content on a client
device, comprising: first and second computing environments; a
monitoring component responsive to user interaction with the first
and second computing environments to determine an opportunity to
present the advertisement sequentially in both computing
environments; a tracking component to determine an exposure metric
satisfied in part by presentation in both computing
environments.
23. The apparatus of claim 22, further comprising, wherein the
first computing environment comprises a user interface of a first
client device and the second computing environment comprises a user
interface of a second client device.
24. The method of claim 23, further comprising: a location sensing
component for sensing a geographic location of the first client
device comprising a mobile communication device; and a physical
proximity component for determining proximity of the first client
device to the second client device.
25. The apparatus of claim 22, further comprising: a user interface
for presenting the first and second computing environments of at
least two selected from a group consisting of a browser screen, a
wireless device menu screen, and a game console screen.
26. The apparatus of claim 22, further comprising a graphical user
interface of a first client device for presenting the first
computing environment capable of performing user interactions with
a presented advertisement.
27. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the tracking component
determines the exposure metric as satisfying the advertising target
defined by a count of times presented.
28. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the tracking component
determines the exposure metric to satisfy an advertising target as
defined by a duration of time.
29. The apparatus of claim 28, further comprising the tracking
component determines the exposure metric to satisfy an advertising
target defined both by the duration of time and a count of times
presented.
30. A method for distributing advertisement content to a client
device, comprising: distributing a selected advertisement for
presentation on the client device to the user while tracking an
exposure metric; instructing a first client device to monitor user
interaction to determine an opportunity to present the
advertisement within a first computing environment; and instructing
a second client device to monitor user interaction to determine
another opportunity to present the selected advertisement to the
user within a second computing environment while tracking the
exposure metric to satisfy an advertising target.
31. The method of claim 30, further comprising: instructing the
first client device to monitor user interaction within the first
computing environment of an application presented on a user
interface of the first client device; and instructing the second
client device to monitor user interaction within the second
computing environment of another application presented on the user
interface of the first client device.
32. The method of claim 31, further comprising: instructing the
first client device to monitor user interaction with the first
computing environment of a selected one of a group consisting of a
browser screen, a wireless device menu screen, or a game console
screen; and instructing the second client device to monitor user
interaction with the second computing environment of another one of
the group.
33. The method of claim 30, further comprising: instructing
monitoring of user interaction within the first computing
environment of an application presented on a user interface of the
first client device; and instructing monitoring user interaction
within the second computing environment of another application
presented on a user interface of a second client device.
34. The method of claim 33, further comprising: determining a
geographic location of the first client device comprising a mobile
communication device; and determining physical proximity of the
first client device to the second client device.
35. The method of claim 30, further comprising tagging the exposure
metric to the advertisement that defines an advertising target as a
count of times presented.
36. The method of claim 30, further comprising tagging the exposure
metric to the advertisement that defines an advertising target as a
duration of time.
37. The method of claim 36, further comprising tagging the exposure
metric to the advertisement that defines the advertising target as
both by the duration of time and a count of times presented.
38. The method of claim 30, further comprising: characterizing the
user of the first client device based upon behavior; selecting the
advertisement for presentation based upon the characterization of
the user; and receiving a correlated and reported user response
proximate in time to presentation of the advertisement to indicate
effectiveness.
39. The method of claim 38, further comprising characterizing the
user by correlating a location of the client device with a location
of a business associated with the advertisement.
40. The method of claim 30, wherein instructing monitoring of the
user interaction comprises detecting recent user control input to a
user interface of the first client device.
41. The method of claim 30, further comprising receiving correlated
and reported user response proximate in time to presentation of the
advertisement to indicate effectiveness.
42. The method of claim 41, further comprising receiving correlated
and reported user response by detecting a user interaction with the
presented advertisement on a user interface of the client
device.
43. The method of claim 41, further comprising receiving correlated
and reported user response by identifying a location of the first
client device???? comprising a mobile communication device as
corresponding to a business associated with the advertisement.
44. The method of claim 41, further comprising receiving correlated
and reported user response by determining that the user made a call
to a business associated with the advertisement.
45. The method of claim 41, further comprising receiving correlated
and reported user response by determining that the user activated a
link in the advertisement to automatically dial the business
associated with the advertisement.
46. The method of claim 41, further comprising receiving correlated
and reported user response by determining that the user made an
input to save the advertisement for further access via a user
interface of the client device.
47. The method of claim 41, further comprising depersonalizing the
report of the user response by removing user identification.
48. At least one processor configured to distribute advertisement
content to a client device, comprising: a module for distributing a
selected advertisement for presentation on the client device to the
user while tracking an exposure metric; a module for instructing a
client device to monitor user interaction to determine an
opportunity to present the advertisement within a first computing
environment; and a module for instructing a client device to
monitor user interaction to determine another opportunity to
present the selected advertisement to the user within a second
computing environment while tracking the exposure metric to satisfy
an advertising target.
49. A computer program product to distribute advertisement content
to a client device, comprising: a computer-readable medium
comprising: at least one instruction for causing a computer to
distribute a selected advertisement for presentation on the client
device to the user while tracking an exposure metric; at least one
instruction for causing a computer to instruct a client device to
monitor user interaction to determine an opportunity to present the
advertisement within a first computing environment; and at least
one instruction for causing a computer to instruct a client device
to monitor user interaction to determine another opportunity to
present the selected advertisement to the user within a second
computing environment while tracking the exposure metric to satisfy
an advertising target.
50. An apparatus for distributing advertisement content to a client
device, comprising: means for distributing a selected advertisement
for presentation on the client device to the user while tracking an
exposure metric; means for instructing a client device to monitor
user interaction to determine an opportunity to present the
advertisement within a first computing environment; and means for
instructing a client device to monitor user interaction to
determine another opportunity to present the selected advertisement
to the user within a second computing environment while tracking
the exposure metric to satisfy an advertising target.
51. An apparatus for presenting advertisement content on a client
device, comprising: a database of advertisements for distributing
to a client device; a tagging component for associating a selected
advertisement with an exposure metric to be satisfied by
presentation to a user associated with the client device; and an
instruction component for transmitting instructions to a client
device to track exposure of the user to the advertisement in both a
first and second computing environment.
52. The apparatus of claim 51, wherein the first computing
environment comprises a user interface of a first client device and
the second computing environment comprises a user interface of a
second client device, the instruction component transmitting the
instructions to both client devices.
53. The method of claim 52, further comprising: a location sensing
component for sensing a geographic location of the first client
device comprising a mobile communication device; and a physical
proximity component for determining proximity of the first client
device to the second client device.
54. The apparatus of claim 51, wherein the instruction component
transmitting instructions to a client device that comprises a user
interface for presenting the first and second computing
environments of at least two selected from a group consisting of a
browser screen, a wireless device menu screen, or a game console
screen.
55. The apparatus of claim 51, further comprising incorporating an
advertisement editor that incorporates an interactive element into
the advertisement for rendering on a graphical user interface of a
client.
56. The apparatus of claim 51, wherein the instruction component
defines the exposure metric as a count of times presented.
57. The apparatus of claim 51, wherein the instruction component
defines the exposure metric as a duration of time.
58. The apparatus of claim 57, wherein the instruction component
defines the exposure metric as both by the duration of time and a
count of times presented.
Description
CLAIM OF PRIORITY UNDER 35 U.S.C. .sctn.119
[0001] The present Application for Patent claims priority to
Provisional Application No. 61/025,632 entitled "Platform for
Mobile Advertising and Microtargeting of Promotions" filed 01 Feb.
2008, and assigned to the assignee hereof and hereby expressly
incorporated by reference herein.
REFERENCE TO CO-PENDING APPLICATIONS FOR PATENT
[0002] The present Application for Patent is related to the
co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/361,380 entitled
"Platform for Mobile Advertising and Microtargeting of Promotions"
to Lewis et al., having Attorney Docket No. 071919, filed on Jan.
28, 2009, assigned to the assignee hereof, and expressly
incorporated by reference herein, which in turn claimed priority to
Provisional Application No. 61/025,615 entitled "Platform for
Mobile Advertising and Microtargeting of Promotions" filed 01 Feb.
2008.
BACKGROUND
[0003] Aspects disclosed herein pertain to a communication network
that distributes and tracks advertisements presented on a mobile
communication device, and in particular, to providing a marketplace
platform that serves as a bridge between advertising platforms and
a population of mobile communication devices for targeting and
tracking particular advertisements suitably formatted and timed for
a user of a mobile communication device.
[0004] For many years, companies have tried to brand their
products, satisfy existing consumers, and reach potential new
consumers through traditional means. The evolution has been linear
when less creative, and sometimes non-linear, when more creative,
as advertising has gone from print forms like newspapers,
magazines, brochures, newsletters, press releases and billboards,
to event-related activities, like sponsorships, seminars,
point-of-sale and promotional programs, to broadcast media, like
radio, television, cable and recently satellite cable.
[0005] In recent years, there has been a rise of advertising that
is more targeted and tailored to individual consumers, with new
forms of previously so-called direct advertising. New endeavors
have sought to interact directly with consumers through pull
campaigns and push campaigns, and make advertising more measurable
to bring advertisers specific consumer data mining bearing on
consumer buying habits, trending and predicting future habits.
Advances in technology outlets combined with marketing ingenuity
have expanded the old direct mail marketing campaigns into new
branches, including telemarketing, point-of-sale campaigns,
computer platforms, and most recently distribution and measurement
through telecommunications networks.
[0006] With respect to the latter, perhaps the greatest platform
for the new world of marketing has been the same as the greatest
platform for information exchange in the last decade, namely the
Internet. Through such avenues as branded websites, banner ads,
pop-up ads, targeted e-mails, portal sponsorships, to name a few
examples, advertisers have been able to hone in on target
audiences. Through defined metrics and innovative semantics, like
served impressions, click-through rate (CTR), cost per action
(CPA), cost per click (CPC), cost per sale (CPS), and cost per
thousand (CPM), to name a few, advertisers have been able to
measure the results of targeted ads and objectively set fees for
performance results obtained. Along with these new advances, and
because of the increasingly cosmopolitan nature of business,
geopolitics, and integrated telecommunications networks, so too has
advertising become increasingly global in nature.
[0007] Along with advances in personal computing that enabled
expansion of Internet advertising (e.g., desktop and notebook
computers and broadband Internet access), advances in technology
have also resulted in smaller and more powerful personal computing
devices. For example, there currently exist a variety of portable
personal computing devices, including wireless computing devices,
such as portable wireless telephones, personal digital assistants
(PDAs) and paging devices that are each small, lightweight, and can
be easily carried by users. With advances in computing technology,
consumers are increasingly offered many types of electronic devices
("user equipment") that can be provisioned with an array of
software applications. Distinct features such as email, Internet
browsing, game playing, address book, calendar, media players,
electronic book viewing, voice communication, directory services,
etc., increasingly are selectable applications that can be loaded
on a multi-function device such as a smart phone, portable game
console, or hand-held computer.
[0008] Even with these advances, mobile communication devices tend
to have communication bandwidth, processing, and user interface
constraints over general purpose computing devices. For example,
the screen size, amount of available memory and file system space,
amount of input and output capabilities and processing capability
may each be limited by the small size of the device. Because of
such severe resource constraints, it is desirable, for example, to
maintain a limited size and quantity of software applications and
other information residing on such remote personal computing
devices, e.g., client devices. As such, the computing platforms for
such devices are often optimized for a particular telephone chipset
and user interface hardware.
[0009] Limited attempts to extend advertising to mobile
communication devices have generally followed the paradigm of
Internet browsing. Given the differences in how a user chooses to
use a mobile communication device and given its limitations, such
mobile web advertising has been of marginal quantity and value to
advertisers.
SUMMARY
[0010] The following presents a simplified summary in order to
provide a basic understanding of some aspects of the disclosed
versions. This summary is not an extensive overview and is intended
to neither identify key or critical elements nor delineate the
scope of such versions. Its purpose is to present some concepts of
the described versions in a simplified form as a prelude to the
more detailed description that is presented later.
[0011] Although mobile communication devices constraints have
limited their use as an advertising channel, mobile communication
devices have unique characteristics that can be an opportunity for
targeted advertising, including impression advertising. The
portability and communication uses of the mobile communication
device in particular present an opportunity to track user exposure
to a selected advertisement campaign across computing environments
(e.g., applications on one client device, user interfaces of
multiple client devices, etc.). Thereby, an advertising campaign
leverages the ability to measure the reach of the advertisement
(e.g., how many users, the demographics of the users, etc.), the
frequency of presentations of the advertisement to each user, and
the duration of presentation of the advertisement to each user.
[0012] In one aspect, a method for presenting advertisement content
on a client device comprises monitoring user interaction with a
client device to determine an opportunity to present an
advertisement within a first computing environment. A selected
advertisement is presented to the user on the client device while
tracking an exposure metric. Monitoring user interaction with a
client device determines another opportunity to present the
selected advertisement to the user within a second computing
environment while tracking the exposure metric to satisfy an
advertising target.
[0013] In other aspects, the method is performed by modules of at
least one processor. A computer program product contains
instructions that cause a computer to perform the method. In
addition, an apparatus has means to perform the method.
[0014] In another aspect, an apparatus presents advertisement
content on a client device to a particular user in first and second
computing environments. A monitoring component responds to user
interaction with the first and second computing environments to
determine an opportunity to present the advertisement sequentially
in both computing environments. A tracking component determines an
exposure metric satisfied in part by presentation in both computing
environments.
[0015] In yet another aspect, a method distributes a selected
advertisement to a client device for presentation on the client
device to the user while tracking an exposure metric. A client
device is instructed to monitor user interaction to determine an
opportunity to present the advertisement within a first computing
environment. Also, a client device is instructed to monitor user
interaction to determine another opportunity to present the
selected advertisement to the user within a second computing
environment while tracking the exposure metric to satisfy an
advertising target.
[0016] In other aspects, the market platform method is performed by
modules of at least one processor. A computer program product
contains instructions that cause a computer to perform the method.
In addition, an apparatus has means to perform the method.
[0017] In yet an additional aspect, an apparatus for presenting
advertisement content on a client device has a database of
advertisements for distributing to a client device. A tagging
component associates a selected advertisement with an advertising
target measured by an exposure metric to be satisfied by
presentation to a user associated with the client device. An
instruction component transmits instructions to a client device to
track exposure of the user to the advertisement in both a first and
second computing environment.
[0018] To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, one
or more versions comprise the features hereinafter fully described
and particularly pointed out in the claims. The following
description and the annexed drawings set forth in detail certain
illustrative aspects and are indicative of but a few of the various
ways in which the principles of the versions may be employed. Other
advantages and novel features will become apparent from the
following detailed description when considered in conjunction with
the drawings and the disclosed versions are intended to include all
such aspects and their equivalents.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0019] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an end-to-end mobile
advertising communication system, according to one aspect.
[0020] FIG. 2 is a timing diagram of a mobile device, marketplace
platform, and advertising platform of the end-to-end mobile
advertising communication system, according to another aspect.
[0021] FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of an illustrative end-to-end
mobile advertising communication system, according to still another
aspect.
[0022] FIG. 4 is a diagram of an illustrative graphical user
interface for campaign management of the communication system of
FIG. 3, according to yet another aspect.
[0023] FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a mobile communication device
of FIG. 3, according to one aspect.
[0024] FIG. 6 is a flow diagram of a methodology for mobile
communication device advertising performed by the communication
system of FIG. 3, according to another aspect.
[0025] FIG. 7 is a flow diagram of a methodology for end-to-end
mobile advertising, according to yet another aspect.
[0026] FIG. 8 is a flow diagram of a methodology for
location-informed behavioral profiling of the methodology of FIG.
7, according to one aspect.
[0027] FIG. 9 is a flow diagram of a methodology for
reach-frequency-time advertising of the methodology of FIG. 7,
according to one aspect
[0028] FIG. 10 is a flow diagram of a methodology for interceptor
micro-targeting advertising of the methodology of FIG. 7, according
to another aspect.
[0029] FIG. 11 is a flow diagram of a methodology for timed coupon
advertising of the methodology of FIG. 7, according to still
another aspect.
[0030] FIG. 12 is a flow diagram of a methodology for selecting
icon actions for a mobile communication device, according to one
aspect.
[0031] FIG. 13 is a flow diagram of a selecting a publicly viewed
advertisement based upon sensed demographics of a viewing audience,
according to one aspect.
[0032] FIG. 14 is a flow diagram for consumer to consumer
advertising, according to one aspect.
[0033] FIG. 15 is a block diagram of a network distribution device
having modules in computer-readable storage medium executed by at
least one processor for distributing advertisement content to a
mobile communication device, according to one aspect.
[0034] FIG. 16 is a block diagram of a mobile communication device
having modules in computer-readable storage medium executed by at
least one processor for implementing advertisement, according to
one aspect.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0035] An end-to-end mobile advertising system provides a
marketplace platform that characterizes user behavior (e.g.,
location, interaction with advertisements on a mobile communication
device, etc.) in order to select micro-targeted advertisements from
an advertisement platform. The marketplace platform handles the
formatting required for presentation suitable for communication
devices. The advertisements are presented in accordance with
negotiated tags for a suitable audience ("reach"), for a suitable
number of presentations ("frequency") and for an effective duration
("time") within a particular scheduled window. A time coupon
advertisement campaign is also supported where advertisement
include a schedule metric. Effectiveness is gauged even in the
instance of impression advertisements by monitoring user location
and/or interaction with the communication device to determine a
change in behavior (e.g., does not go to a competitor as
forecasted, does go to a location of the advertiser, calls the
advertiser, clips the advertisement for future reference, etc.).
This effectiveness is further tracked across applications and/or
platforms to capture reach, frequency, and duration of a particular
advertising campaign for a user. Not only does the marketplace
platform handle the interfacing for the particular format needs of
mobile communication devices, the marketplace platform secures user
identification for privacy reasons from advertising entities that
provide the advertisements.
[0036] On the Internet, the resultant single workflow from
activating an advertisement, may be viewed within a host web page
in a web browser, which is to launch a landing page within the same
or a new instance of the web browser. On a mobile communication
device there are many more possible workflows that could be
followed given the available functions of that device. These may
include, but are not limited to, "click to call", "click to
locate", "click to SMS", "click to send a picture", "click to
handle later", and are constrained only by the available and
accessible functionality of the user's device. A list of actions to
be made available associated with an advertisement are provided
along with an iconic visual representation of those actions for the
user to identify what the resultant workflow will be if they
activate the action. The list can be presented as selectable
actions within the advertisement, on a sub menu activated by a
dedicated device key or assigned softkey, or directly activated by
using dedicated device keys or assigned soft keys, or other
user-to-device interaction methods.
[0037] Various aspects are now described with reference to the
drawings. In the following description, for purposes of
explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to
provide a thorough understanding of one or more aspects. It may be
evident, however, that the various aspects may be practiced without
these specific details. In other instances, well-known structures
and devices are shown in block diagram form in order to concisely
describe these versions.
[0038] Additionally, in the subject description, the word
"exemplary" is used to mean serving as an example, instance, or
illustration. Any aspect or design described herein as "exemplary"
is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous
over other aspects or designs. Rather, use of the word exemplary is
intended to present concepts in a concrete fashion.
[0039] The apparatus and methods are especially well suited for use
in wireless environments, but may be suited in any type of network
environment, including but not limited to, communication networks,
public networks, such as the Internet, private networks, such as
virtual private networks (VPN), local area networks, wide area
networks, long haul networks, or any other type of data
communication network.
[0040] Referring to FIG. 1, a communication system 100 provides an
end-to-end solution for advertisers to extend the reach of their
advertising platforms 102 to a population of client devices,
depicted as mobile communication devices 104, even though the
mobile communication devices 104 have display, communication
bandwidth, and user interaction that differ markedly from other
communication channels used by the advertising platforms 102,
according to one aspect. A marketplace platform 106 provides the
interface between the advertising platforms 102 and the mobile
communication devices, handling the specific needs of mobile
communication devices 104. For example, the marketplace platform
106 includes a formatting component 108 that formats advertisements
on behalf of the advertising platform 102 so that the advertisers
can maintain one advertising inventory 110 used for other
advertising distribution and communication channels (e.g., web
portals, etc.). Thus, the advertising platform need not keep up to
date with a myriad of presentation constraints for each
configuration 112 of mobile communication device 104. Thus, the
advertisement can be presented in a suitable rendering with
suitable interaction options in accordance with a user interface
114 of the particular mobile communication device 104.
[0041] The marketplace platform 106 provides additional value to
advertisers by determining a "reach" of the population of mobile
devices 104. Not only does the marketplace platform 106 know the
capabilities for presentation of advertisements, behavior of the
user is sensed via the user interface 114 (e.g., call history,
interaction with mobile advertisements, etc.) and/or by a location
sensing component 116 of the mobile communication device 104. These
behavior indications are reported by an advertising client 118,
also resident on the mobile communication device 104. Thereby, the
marketplace platform 106 can go beyond "suspect" demographic data
about the mobile communication devices 104 by storing behavioral
and demographics data in a database 120. An advertisement
forecasting component 122 analyzes this data in order to
characterize the directly sensed or interpreted behavior of a user
of the mobile communication device 104.
[0042] When the mobile communication device 104 needs additional
advertisements, the advertising client 118 makes a request, which
is forwarded by the marketplace platform 106. While achieving the
latter, individual identifications are filtered out with a privacy
component 124, such that the advertising platform 102 knows only a
characterization of the mobile communication device 104.
Alternatively, the marketplace platform 106 has access to a range
of advertisements in the advertisement inventory 110 of the
advertising platform 102 and utilizes an advertisement
micro-targeting component 126 to select appropriate advertisements
for the requesting mobile communication device 104 in accordance
with a characterization maintained by the advertising forecasting
component 122. The mobile communication device 104 presents the
advertisement on the user interface 114 and reports the usage via
the advertising client 118 to the marketplace platform 106. The
data can be processed by a report formatting component 128 in
accordance with a data format compatible with the advertising
platform 102 so that advertisers can assess the effectiveness of an
advertisement campaign. The advertisement tracking data can also be
processed by a billing component 130, especially in instances where
the amount of payment owed to the marketplace platform 106 is
related to the advertisement tracking data. In instances where
users have interacted in a way with the user interface 114
indicating a desire to purchase goods or services associated with a
presented advertisement, the marketplace platform 106 can provide
an advertisement brokered sale component 132, leveraging current
billing avenues, authentication methods, and privacy filters in
order to facilitate a transaction between the advertising platform
102 and a user of the mobile communication device 104.
[0043] The reach, frequency, and time of exposure to advertising
can be extended to capture instances in which a user 140 can be
exposed to the same advertisement campaign across multiple
computing environments (e.g., applications, devices, etc.). For
instance, the user 140 interacts with one client device (e.g.,
mobile communication device 104) whose user interface 114 is
capable of presenting multiple applications (e.g., WAP browser,
game console, communication device menu, etc.). Alternatively or in
addition, the user 140 can interact with a second user interface
142 of another client device 144 that also has an advertising
client 146 that responds to the marketplace platform 106. A
persistent reach-frequency-time tracking component 148 of the
marketplace platform 106 instructs the mobile communication device
104 and client device 144 and receipts reports as to partial
compliance with the exposure metrics in order to determine when an
advertising target has been satisfied.
[0044] An example of such persistent reach-frequency-time
advertising would be a fourteen-year-old boy Joey whom the
marketplace platform 106 has determined to be a skateboard
enthusiast based upon behavior (e.g., search performed on a WAP
browser on the mobile communication device 104, frequent proximity
to a skateboard recreation center, solicited opt-in, etc.). A
sports shoe manufacturer can have an advertising campaign that
promotes use of their product in skateboard events and has selected
a classification of users like Joey to receive their
advertisements. In particular, the campaign specifies that each
recipient of the appropriate inclination (i.e., reach) is to
receive the advertisement at least four times (i.e., frequency) for
a total of thirty seconds duration (i.e., time). Opportunities to
satisfy this exposure metric can be realized in part when Joey
selects to play a skateboarding game on his mobile communication
device 104. Another portion of the exposure time can occur when
Joey accesses a financial webpage to view his stock values. Another
opportunity for presenting the advertisement can occur when viewing
a home screen of the user interface 114 upon initial activation,
implying that Joey is viewing the client device 104.
[0045] As another example, a young adult Chris can interact
occasionally with a number of different client devices 104, 144
including a personal cell phone with a graphical user interface, a
wirelessly enabled portable game console, a cell phone-enabled
handheld or tablet device largely used for email, etc. The
marketplace platform 106 can be associated with more than one of
these devices (not shown), associating their use with the same
user, and thus a selected advertising campaign, enabling additional
opportunities to complete the required frequency and/or duration of
exposure to an advertisement.
[0046] In some applications, the user 140 passively interacts with
the second client device 144, such as viewing a dynamic public
advertisement (e.g., active billboard). Determination of this
passive interaction can be determined by the persistent
reach-frequency-time tracking component 148 correlating location
data from the location sensing component 116 of the mobile
communication device 104 with a sensed or predetermined location of
the client device 144. This can be micro targeting of advertising,
such as instances in which only one or a few individuals are
capable of seeing the dynamic advertising display. Alternatively or
in addition, the dynamic public advertisement platform can be a
large dynamic display that is simultaneously viewed by a larger
population, such as alongside a highway or at a busy pedestrian
thoroughfare. A revenue optimizing system for dynamically changing
the advertisement presented can benefit from feedback regarding the
current demographic and/or behavioral profile characterization of
some, many, or all of the viewers. Thus, a generally applicable
soft drink advertisement could be the default advertisement
presented.
[0047] For example, an advertisement event is triggered when twenty
users are detected as having a classification as professionals in a
certain medical specialty, due to the proximity of a convention or
hospital, for which a pharmaceutical or medical device manufacturer
is willing to pay a premium advertising rate per capita. As another
example, a sporting event then concludes and a large influx of
sports fans leave. The sheer number of fans changes the optimum
revenue generating advertisement to one with a lower premium per
capita, but an overall larger value. The optimization could further
take into consideration the relative rate of travel of the
population to change the advertisements in a way to provide
effective exposure balanced against opportunities to sell
additional advertisement time.
[0048] The monitoring across computing environments of various
applications on a client device 104, or even to other client
devices 144 for opportunities to present advertisements can be
further leveraged to capture user behavior for reporting to the
marketplace platform 106. For example, the user 140 can enter
keywords into a WAP browser search engine that are captured.
Navigating links provided on a portal webpage can be tracked.
Selection of media content, game content, utilities applications
for download and use can be tracked. Interactions with certain
classes of advertisements that are sent in an untargeted fashion to
the population of mobile communication devices 104 can be noted. To
the extent permissible, communicating with certain business
entities (e.g., telephone calls) can be captured. Thus, the unique
interaction forms provided by certain mobile communication devices
104 can enhance behavior profiling of a user for targeted micro
advertising. Coordination or control of such keyword
characterization can be performed at a cross platform search
monitor 150 with functionality provided by the advertisement
clients 118 and 146.
[0049] A further enhancement to the device UI can be provided by
multiple actions, represented by icons, used in conjunction with
the user interface 114 that are activated based upon for the user's
choice of response to an advertisement, especially those
facilitated by the communication features made available by the
mobile communication device 104. Alternatively or in addition, the
actions can be selected based on the advertiser's preferences.
Alternatively or in addition, the actions can be selected based on
a propensity for generating revenue for the marketplace platform
106.
[0050] The marketplace platform 106 can utilize a selective
advertisement action utility 152 to incorporate such actions and
icons and functionality into the advertisement distributed to the
mobile communication device 104. For example, some advertisers hope
to drive the user to website, to a telephone customer service
number, to an email response, a short message service (SMS) text
response, a click to buy shopping cart interface (e.g., payment and
shipping information handled through the operator's billing
contract with the user of the mobile communication device 104). A
click-to-coupon action, represented by an icon or other means, can
allow the mobile communication device 104 itself to serve as a hand
carried "coupon," perhaps presenting a redemption code or rendered
barcode for the retailer to accept or for the user to enter online.
A click-to-promotion action can allow the marketplace platform 106
to selectively target discounts to particular classes of users, or
perhaps an individual user.
[0051] Since different kinds of interactions with an advertisement
tend to have different value to an advertiser, the selection of
actions presented can be placed in a descending order of priority,
or could result in a different remuneration value to the
marketplace platform 106. For example, a click-to-buy action could
have the highest value, although this may be inappropriate for the
contractual arrangement with the mobile communication device 106
(e.g., underage youth) or not be suitable for the type of
advertisement (e.g., impression advertising for a service). A
second tier could be a direct contact with the advertiser (e.g.,
click-to-call, click-to-email, or click-to-text). A lower tier
could be those interactions that show some interest only (e.g.,
click-to-locate, click-to-content, click-to-save (the advertisement
or coupon), etc.).
[0052] Although privacy for the users is a benefit of placing the
marketplace platform 106 between the advertising platform 102 and
the user 140, in some applications a consumer-to-consumer
advertising functionality can be facilitated by the communication
system 100. The marketplace platform 106 can serve as a broker that
makes the introduction for an advertiser to a user 140 who can opt
in for direct marketing campaigns. As another example, an
individual or association ("trusted entity") 154 can obtain indicia
156 of addressee permission, such as a code or password that
enables access to direct marketing features. For example, a
professional association can obtain contractual permission for
their organization through registration and negotiate with the
marketplace platform 106 for a direct advertisement to their
members, such as facilitating acceptance of enrolling in a seminar.
As another example, a friend could schedule for a birthday
advertisement to be prominently displayed within a circle of
friends, providing a higher likelihood of being noticed over other
message formats yet without the inconvenience of leaving many
voicemails. As yet another example, an advertiser is only willing
to provide a special discount to certain users who are in a special
status, such as very frequent flyer on a certain airline. A
targeted click-to-coupon could be sent to such an individual
without making such an offer widely available to those the
advertiser chooses to discriminate.
[0053] In FIG. 2, a methodology 200 for end-to-end mobile
advertising is depicted by interactions between the mobile
communication device 104, the marketplace platform 106, and the
advertising platform 102, according to one aspect. It should be
appreciated that the user 140 can utilize also a client device 144
that need not be mobile with the marketplace platform 106 in some
applications coordinating certain of these communication steps with
either or both devices 104 and 144. The marketplace platform 106
begins by processing a collection of demographic data in block 202.
Such data has value, but is denoted as "suspect" in that users do
not always provide accurate or complete self-assessments for a
number of reasons. This demographic data is augmented at 204 by
location reporting provided by the mobile communication device 104
to the marketplace platform 106. This location data can be
approximate, given a current cell or wireless node from which the
communication originates. This location data can be accurately
determined from a Global Positioning System (GPS) engine
incorporated into the mobile communication device 104, sufficiently
accurate to identify the location of the user to specific physical
addresses. In addition, user behavior is provided by call activity,
depicted as reports at 206. This collected user behavior data is
analyzed for behavioral profiling at block 208. As used herein, a
behavioral profile encompasses the demographic variables, behavior
variables, and other information that goes toward IAO variables
(i.e., interests, attitudes, and opinions), although it should be
appreciated that some applications consistent with aspects herein
may be confined to a subset of such variables.
[0054] In block 210, the marketplace platform 106 performs a
forecast of the advertising market of the mobile communication
devices 104. For example, current advertising usage and the usage
of the mobile communication devices 104 overall can be combined
with propensity of certain users of mobile communication devices
104 to benefit from a particular advertiser based on the behavioral
profiling. This ad forecast can serve as a basis for negotiating an
advertisement campaign with the advertising platform 102, as
depicted at 212. The campaign can be defined in terms of reach
(e.g., a subset of users of mobile communication devices 104 with a
high correlation for the goods or services based on behavioral
profile), frequency of advertisement presentations to each user,
the cumulative viewing time of an advertisement for each selected
user, and/or a location limitation for users proximate to a
competitor or the advertiser's business locations. An advertisement
campaign can be constrained to a particular calendar schedule with
limitations on a begin time and/or an end time. The schedule
constraint can also comprise a time of day schedule limitation for
campaigns that focus on users who are active at a particular time,
such as those who would be influenced to visit a restaurant close
to dinner time or to attend a concert. The marketplace platform 106
can also provide tracking of advertisement usage that can serve as
a valuable feedback tool for the advertisers to determine
effectiveness. The tracking can also serve as a basis for valuing
the end-to-end mobile advertising services of the marketplace
platform 106.
[0055] With the advertising campaign set up, when a mobile
communication device 104 signals the marketplace platform 106 at
214 that additional advertisements are needed, the marketplace
platform 106 requests single-format advertisements from the
advertisement platform at 216. The advertising platform 102
provides the single format advertisements at 218.
[0056] At block 220, the marketplace platform 106 formats one or
more advertisements into a format suitable for the requesting
mobile communication device 104. The marketplace platform 106
micro-targets the advertisements to those mobile communication
devices 104 that are deemed to have an appropriate behavioral
profile. Part of the formatting includes tagging metrics in
accordance with the negotiated terms for the advertising campaign.
Examples of these tags are frequency of presentation, duration of
presentation, schedule window, location constraints, etc. The
custom formatted advertisements are sent from the marketplace
platform 106 to the mobile communication device 104 at 222.
[0057] At 224, the mobile communication device 104 presents the
advertisements in accordance with the tagged metrics. The tracking
of advertisement usage by the mobile communication device 104 is
reported intermittently to the marketplace platform 106 as depicted
at 226. In addition, some aspects include location reporting as
depicted at 228. With this advertisement and location tracking, the
marketplace platform 106 correlates the advertisement presentation
with the location of the user against a database of monitored
locations (e.g., competitors, advertiser's business locations,
etc.) in order to infer success or failure of impression
advertisements. The mobile communication device 104 in some aspects
reports call activity as depicted at 232, such as dialed directly
by the user or automatically dialed by using a "click to dial"
feature of the mobile communication device 104. In some aspects, at
234 the mobile communication device 104 can report advertisement
interaction activity (e.g., "click to clip" to save the
advertisement for future review by the user, "click to glance" to
launch a window to view the advertisement or a more detailed
version of the advertisement, "click to locate" to guide the user
to the location of the advertiser, etc.).
[0058] The tagged metrics can facilitate the user behavior by
providing information or active content that direct the user toward
the behavior that is to be tracked. In some instances, an
advertiser may specify that only certain kinds of user behavior are
to be tracked, or certain behaviors are weighted more heavily as
indicating an effective advertisement. For example, a click to
locate action can be a stronger indication than a click to save,
which in turn can be a stronger indication than a location
proximity that is not necessarily proof of visiting the advertising
business.
[0059] At 236, based on the reported usage data, the marketplace
platform 106 can have an opportunity to perform a brokered sale
with the advertising platform 102 based on certain kinds of user
interactions with the advertisement. At 238, based on the reported
usage data, the marketplace platform 106 can report depersonalized
advertisement tracking data to the advertising platform 102. This
depersonalization can summarize the data into a format conforming
to the data of interest to the advertiser. The depersonalization
can replace individual identification with a categorization of the
consumers of the advertisement in order to preserve user privacy.
At 240, the marketplace platform 106 can report advertisement
billing, such as basing the amount due as corresponding to the
usage tracking.
[0060] In FIG. 3, an exemplary communication system 300 benefits
from a mobile advertisement platform 302 that interfaces between
advertiser/agency advertisement serving platforms 304, operators
and publishers 306, and a population of mobile communication
devices 308, in accordance with one implementation. It should be
appreciated that a particular user 140 (FIG. 1) may use more than
one mobile communication device 308, which can be coordinated by
the mobile advertisement platform 302 to accomplish certain
advertisement objectives. The user can also interact with an
immobile client device, depicted as a dynamic public advertisement
display (e.g., billboard, television, computer workstation, waiting
room display, public conveyance signage, etc.) 309. The mobile
communication device 308 provides indications of user interaction
(e.g., pattern of movement) that when related to the type of
immobile client device 309 can indicate exposure to advertisement.
For instance, movement toward a large display is indicative of
likelihood of seeing the advertisement. The advertising serving
platforms 304 can comprise operator advertising sales 310, mobile
advertising sales 312, Internet advertising sales 314, and/or
publisher advertising sales 316, etc., whose particular
communication protocols are accommodated by an advertisement
sales/agency/advertiser interface 318 to communicate with the
mobile advertisement platform 302. In some aspects, operators
(e.g., wireless/cellular carrier) 306 can perform functions such as
billing and assisting in estimating an available population of
mobile communication devices 308 by communicating with the mobile
advertisement platform 302 via an operator/publisher interface 320.
The mobile advertising platform 302 includes a campaign management
component 322 that allows an administrator to select appropriate
formatting and metric tagging. This campaign management 322 can
further include an action management utility 323 that assists in
selecting an icon for the action that are suggestive of the types
of communication options afforded by mobile communication devices,
and assists in defining a workflow invocation command and
parameters for the action (e.g., email, direct purchase, call, text
message, save, navigate to content, etc.) as well prompting to
those options appropriate to the advertiser and/or preferred by the
marketplace advertisement platform 302 for potential for revenue
generation.
[0061] In FIG. 4, in an illustrative graphical user interface 324
includes a general window 326 that enables a user to enter a
campaign identification entry field 328 (e.g., 91 4081 9034), a
campaign name entry field 330 (e.g., Martin campaign), a campaign
status pull-down menu 332 (e.g., planning), a click-to-action link
334 (i.e., uniform resource locator (URL), e.g.,
http://news.bbc.co.uk), a campaign description entry field 336
(e.g., click to action--listen to streaming BBC world news
channel), campaign goals entry field 338 (e.g., target audience,
behavioral profile categories K, T, AA, frequency 5, time duration
45 seconds), and a category pull-down menu 340 (e.g., Arts &
Culture--Arts (General)), according to one aspect.
[0062] In an exemplary version, both the mobile communication
devices 308 are BREW-enabled. The Binary Runtime Environment for
Wireless.RTM. (BREW.RTM.) software, developed by QUALCOMM
Incorporated of San Diego, Calif., exists over the operating system
of a computing device, such as a wireless cellular phone. BREW.RTM.
can provide a set of interfaces to particular hardware features
found on computing devices. As such, the click-to-action link 334
can include a BREW "click URL" or other instructions as to how the
user can interact with the advertisement (e.g., click to clip,
click to call, click to glance, etc.).
[0063] The graphical user interface 324 also provides a specific
configuration for a subset of the mobile configuration devices 308
operating with a specific chipset, hardware, and/or software
configuration. In an illustrative window 342, the user has selected
a mobile advertisement size of 88, which is defined as 88 pixels
wide by 18 pixels high. An image selection field 344 allows the
campaign administrator to select an image, such as an image
provided by the advertiser that has been manually resized or
automatically cropped and reduced and/or changed in color palette
by the widow 342. Additional text entry field 346 may be used, such
as for instructions for displaying how to interact with this
advertisement that is specific to this configuration of mobile
communication device 308. A text position pull-down menu 348 can
position this additional text, or omit it altogether as in given in
the example.
[0064] Returning to FIG. 3, the customized advertisements from the
campaign management component 322 are stored in a real-time
inventory database 350. Data provided by operators/publishers 306
can be processed by an inventory forecasting component 351 with
forecast data stored in database 350, in accordance with one
implementation. A targeting and advertisement selection component
352 matches advertisement requests from the mobile communication
devices 308 with the customized advertisements in the inventory
database 350. Such targeting can comprise a public advertisement
component 353 that selects an advertisement display 355 of the
immobile client device 309. The selection can be made based upon
passive interaction of the user 140 (FIG. 1) as detected by the
mobile communication device 308 moving into proximity of the
immobile client device 309.
[0065] The communication protocol and advertisement format is
translated by a multi-format advertisement serving component 354 to
the mobile communication devices 308. In an illustrative aspect, a
Triglet Service Adaptor (TSA) 356 of a uiOne delivery system (UDS)
358 performs the multi-format advertising serving function. The
uiOne.TM. architecture developed by QUALCOMM Incorporated as part
of BREW provides a set of BREW extensions that enable rapid
development of rich and customizable UIs (i.e., active content,
over-the-air (OTA) up-gradable), helps to evolve download business
beyond applications, provides theming of part or entire handset UI,
and utilizes BREW.RTM. UI Widgets. Thus, BREW uiOne reduces the
time to market for handsets, carrier customization, and consumer
personalization. To do this, the BREW uiOne.TM. provides a clear
set of abstractions, adding two new layers to the application
development stack for BREW. The uiOne delivery system 358 is used
to update mobile user interfaces (UIs) 360 over-the-air. This
delivery system 358 can be deployed in a standalone fashion,
allowing operators to leverage the functionality of their own
delivery system. Additional benefits can be realized by deploying
uiOne architecture with uiOne delivery system 358, especially when
deployed in conjunction with other elements of the BREW.RTM.
solution (e.g. monetization and billing of downloadable UI packages
when the operator does not already have the appropriate
infrastructure).
[0066] It should be appreciated with the benefit of the present
disclosure that incorporation of BREW.RTM., uiOne.TM., etc., are
illustrative and that application consistent with aspects herein
can employ other computing environments, mobile operating systems,
user interfaces, and communication protocols. For example, the user
interfaces 360 can employ JAVA applets and operating
environment.
[0067] The mobile user interface 360 thus configured in the
illustrative version includes a tab A 362 and a tab B 364 (e.g.,
"mystuff", which can include clipped advertisements subfolder). The
depicted tab A 362 is selected, showing options, such as selected
Games shopping option 366, an applications ("apps") shopping option
368, a themes shopping option 370, and a shopping search option
372. An advertisement banner advertisement 374 is displayed with
additional text 376 (e.g., #1 to Clip, #2 to Call) explaining how a
user can interact with the advertisement 374, such as using a dial
tone multi-frequency (DTMF) keypad 378, a dedicated advertisement
interaction button (e.g., Clip) 380, and a menu button 382 to reach
additional advertisement options perhaps used in conjunction with a
steering buttons 384 and a select button 386. An exit button 388
allows backing out of a menu sequence. The advertisement banner 374
can also incorporate one or more icons 375 that graphically
communicate what the interaction will perform as well as
facilitating the action. Alternatively the icons can be presented
within a menu or icon bar or other platform or implementation
specific method.
[0068] The mobile communication device 308 provides functions that
operate to support and monitor the user interaction with
advertisements 374, such as an advertisement cache 390, an
advertisement tracking component 392, a contextual targeting
component 394, a location monitoring and reporting component 396,
and an advertising client 398, which in the illustrative version is
a BREW extension. The location monitoring and reporting component
396 can derive location from a Global Positioning System (GPS) 400.
Alternatively, radio frequency identification systems, wireless
access points, cellular direction finding, etc., can provide
approximate location information about a mobile communication
device that is temporarily screened from GPS reception or lacks an
inherent location sensing capability. Immobile client devices 309
can have a predetermined location value 401 accessed by the mobile
advertisement platform 302 rather than a sensed value. This
location information can be utilized for public advertising in
which passive interaction is surmised by the public advertising
component 353 of the mobile advertisement platform 302.
[0069] The mobile advertising platform 302 stores the data received
from the mobile communication devices 308 in the real-time inventor
database 350. A reporting and analytics component 402 summarizes,
filters, and formats the data received from the database 350,
filtered of individual identification information by an
advertisement tracking identifier filter 404. The prepared data is
used by a billing component 406 that sends bills to advertising
serving platforms 304 and/or by a settlement component 408 that
interacts with operators and publishers 306.
[0070] Returning to FIG. 4, the window 342 can facilitate
advertisement action and icon selection that is appropriate for the
capabilities of the type of mobile communication device 308,
appropriate for the communication avenues allowed by the advertiser
(e.g., text messaging, emailing, webpage, telephone call, etc.),
and/or optimum for revenue generating potential for the marketplace
advertisement platform 302. A plurality of banner size selection
radio buttons and depictions 410 can change the rendering of a
selected banner 412 in the image selection field 344 to make it
appropriate for a particular type of mobile communication device
308.
[0071] A range of actions, represented by their assigned icon, can
be selected for incorporation, such as by drag and drop or by
selecting. In some applications, those action icons are disabled
(e.g., grayed out) if not appropriate for the particular
advertisement, such as not having corresponding action information
defined in general window 326, or if not available on the type of
mobile communication device 308. Although not depicted, the
selection can allow multiple actions to be added to the
advertisement if supported by the mobile communication device 308.
Alternatively or in addition, a hierarchy of preferred action
choices when multiple choices are available can be specified with
the first choice displayed. The action icon actually displayed on a
particular mobile communication device 308 could be dynamically
changed to accommodate a limitation on the user's contractual
relationship or the local access network. For example, the user may
not have paid for short message service or the service may not be
available at a certain locale.
[0072] Examples of action icons that are suggestive of function as
well as giving a wide range of interaction possibilities for
advertisements include, but are not limited to, the following: (1)
A click-to-call icon 420 dials the number as specified by the
advertiser to encourage calling; (2) A click-to-WAP (wireless
application protocol) icon 422 launches a browser allowing the user
to manually type in a link provided on the advertising banner 412;
(3) A click-to-landing icon 424 allows the browser to return to a
prior page or a home page, which can be desired due to the slow
page loading for mobile communication device 308 using a limited
throughput wireless channel; (4) Click-to-brochure icon 426 renders
a document depiction for additional information about the
advertisement; (5) A click-to-email icon 428 sends an automated
email response to the advertiser; (6) Click-to-clip (keep/save)
icon 430 saves the advertisement for later accessing; (7) A
click-to-forward icon 432 launches a utility to forward the
advertisement to an addressee manually entered or one in their
address book; (8) A click-to-message icon 434 accesses a short
message utility pre-addressed to the advertiser; (9) A
click-to-content icon 436 navigates to a web link provided by the
advertiser; (10) A click-to-locate icon 438 pops up a map to the
advertiser, perhaps the closest location with reference to location
information from the mobile communication device 308; (11) A
click-to-promotion icon 440 can activate information about how to
enter a sweepstakes, contest, promotion etc.; (12) A
click-to-coupon icon 442 can access a barcode, alphanumeric
password, etc. for entering into a full browser, a mail-in
redemption, or to show to a retailer on the mobile communication
device 308 in order to access a discount deal; and (13) A
click-to-buy icon 444 initiates a purchase transaction. In some
applications, the service provider for the mobile communication
device 308 can enhance the transaction by providing the shipping
and/or billing information for the user associated with the device
308, including adding the purchase to the service billing.
[0073] In FIG. 5, an exemplary version of a communication system
500 is depicted according to some aspects as any type of
computerized device, according to one aspect. For example, the
communication device 500 may comprise a mobile wireless and/or
cellular telephone. Alternatively, the communication device 500 may
comprise a fixed communication device, such as a Proxy Call/Session
Control Function (P-CSCF) server, a network device, a server, a
computer workstation, etc. It should be understood that
communication device 500 is not limited to such a described or
illustrated devices, but may further include a Personal Digital
Assistant (PDA), a two-way text pager, a portable computer having a
wired or wireless communication portal, and any type of computer
platform having a wired and/or wireless communications portal.
Further, the communication device 500 can be a remote-slave or
other similar device, such as remote sensors, remote servers,
diagnostic tools, data relays, and the like, which does not have an
end-user thereof, but which simply communicates data across a
wireless or wired network. In alternate aspects, the communication
device 500 may be a wired communication device, such as a landline
telephone, personal computer, set-top box or the like.
Additionally, it should be noted that any combination of any number
of communication devices 500 of a single type or a plurality of the
afore-mentioned types may be utilized in a cellular communication
system (not shown). Therefore, the present apparatus and methods
can accordingly be performed on any form of wired or wireless
device or computer module, including a wired or wireless
communication portal, including without limitation, wireless
modems, Personal Computer Memory Card International Association
(PCMCIA) cards, access terminals, personal computers, telephones,
or any combination or sub-combination thereof.
[0074] Additionally, the communication device 500 may include a
user interface 502 for purposes such as viewing and interacting
with advertisements. This user interface 502 includes an input
device 504 operable to generate or receive a user input into the
communication device 500, and an output device 506 operable to
generate and/or present information for consumption by the user of
the communication device 500. For example, input device 502 may
include at least one device such as a keypad and/or keyboard, a
mouse, a touch-screen display, a microphone in association with a
voice recognition module, etc. Further, for example, output device
506 may include a display, an audio speaker, a haptic feedback
mechanism, etc. Output device 506 may generate a graphical user
interface, a sound, a feeling such as a vibration or a Braille text
producing surface, etc.
[0075] Further, communication device 500 may include a computer
platform 508 operable to execute applications to provide
functionality to the device 500, and which may further interact
with input device 504 and output device 506. Computer platform 508
may include a memory, which may comprise volatile and nonvolatile
memory portions, such as read-only and/or random-access memory (RAM
and ROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM),
electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash
memory, and/or any memory common to computer platforms. Further,
memory may include active memory and storage memory, including an
electronic file system and any secondary and/or tertiary storage
device, such as magnetic media, optical media, tape, soft and/or
hard disk, and removable memory components. In the illustrative
version, memory is depicted as RAM memory 509 and a nonvolatile
local storage component 510, both connected to a data bus 512 of
the computer platform 508.
[0076] Further, computer platform 508 may also include a processor
514, which may be an application-specific integrated circuit
(ASIC), or other chipset, processor, logic circuit, or other data
processing device. In some aspects, such as when communication
device 500 comprises a cellular telephone, processor or other logic
such as an application specific integration circuit (ASIC) 516 may
execute an application programming interface (API) 518 that
interfaces with any resident software components, depicted as
applications (e.g., games) 520 that may be active in memory 509 for
other functions (e.g., communication call control, alarm clock,
text messaging, etc.). It should be appreciated with the benefit of
the present disclosure that applications consistent with aspects of
the present disclosure may omit other applications and/or omit the
ability to receive streaming content such as voice call, data call,
and media-related applications in memory 509. Device APIs 518 may
run on top of a runtime environment executing on the respective
communication device. One such API 518 runtime environment is
Binary Runtime Environment for Wireless.RTM. (BREW.RTM.) API 522,
developed by QUALCOMM Incorporated of San Diego, Calif.
[0077] Additionally, processor 514 may include various processing
subsystems 524 embodied in hardware, firmware, software, and
combinations thereof, that enable the functionality of
communication device 500 and the operability of the communication
device 500 on communications system 300 (FIG. 3). For example,
processing subsystems 524 allow for initiating and maintaining
communications, and exchanging data, with other networked devices
as well as within and/or among components of communication device
500. In one aspect, such as in a cellular telephone, processor 514
may include one or a combination of processing subsystems 524, such
as: sound, non-volatile memory, file system, transmit, receive,
searcher, layer 1, layer 2, layer 3, main control, remote
procedure, handset, power management, diagnostic, digital signal
processor, vocoder, messaging, call manager, Bluetooth.RTM. system,
Bluetooth.RTM. LPOS, position determination, position engine, user
interface, sleep, data services, security, authentication, USIM/SIM
(universal subscriber identity module/subscriber identity module),
voice services, graphics, USB (universal serial bus), multimedia
such as MPEG (Moving Picture Experts Group) protocol multimedia,
GPRS (General Packet Radio Service), short message service (SMS),
short voice service (SVS.TM.), web browser, etc. For the disclosed
aspects, processing subsystems 524 of processor 514 may include any
subsystem components that interact with applications executing on
computer platform 508.
[0078] Computer platform 508 may further include a communications
module 526 that enables communications among the various components
of communication device 500, as well as being operable to provide
communications related to receiving and tracking advertisements
presented on and/or interacted with on the user interface 502.
Communications module 526 may be embodied in hardware, firmware,
software, and/or combinations thereof, and may further include all
protocols for use in intra-device and inter-device communications.
A GPS engine 528 or other location sensing components provide
location information of the communication device 500.
[0079] Certain of these capabilities of the communication device
500 can be facilitated by code loaded from local storage 510,
retained in memory 509, and executed by the processor 514, such as
an operating system (OS) 530. A user interface (UI) module 532
facilitates interactive control with the user interface 502. The UI
module 532 includes an advertising interaction component 534 that
provides tailored interaction options for particular advertisements
that are drawn from an advertisement cache 536 in an order
specified by an advertisement queue 538 ordered by an advertising
client 540, in particular an advertising packaging Triglet service
adaptor 542. The usage of advertisements is captured by an
advertising tracking component 544. A location reporting component
546 can include logic that selectively reports device location.
[0080] In one aspect, the UI module 532 can include a keyword
monitor 547 that monitors all user inputs in order to capture
keywords or data from which keywords can be inferred. Thereby, no
matter what application or communication function is being
utilized, this user behavior associated with keywords can be
captured.
[0081] According to one aspect, the BREW APIs 522 provide the
ability for applications to call Device APIs 518 and other
functions without having to be written specifically for the type of
communication device 500. Thus, an application 520 or components
for end-to-end mobile advertising on the communication device 500
may operate identically, or with slight modifications, on a number
of different types of hardware configurations within the operating
environment provided by BREW API 522, which abstracts certain
hardware aspects. A BREW extension 548 adds additional capability
to the programming platform of the BREW API 522, such as offering
MP3 players, Java Virtual Machines, etc. As an example, the UI
module 532 can be a BREW extension 548.
[0082] In order to distribute computational overhead and/or to
reduce transmission overhead on the communication system 300 (FIG.
3), an artificial intelligence (AI) component 550 and/or a
rule-based logic component 552 can infer user behavior for
reporting, make decisions as to when a reportable
advertising-related event has occurred, and/or extrapolate location
based on intermittent location sensing, etc.
[0083] The rules-based logic component 552 can be employed to
automate certain functions described or suggested herein. In
accordance with this alternate aspect, an implementation scheme
(e.g., rule) can be applied to define types of attributes that
should be acted upon or ignored, correlate language elements to
attributes, create rules that are aware of location sensing status,
sensing a delay in last user interaction to determine if
advertisement viewing is occurring, etc. By way of example, it will
be appreciated that the rule-based implementation can automatically
define criteria for types of user interactions that can be
partially intruded upon by an advertisement. For example, during
loading of a game, an advertisement can be allowed to be displayed
full screen. When a half-screen application is running, example a
text messaging application, then an advertisement banner can be
displayed, which a user can selectively enable in order to receive
subsidized service rates, for example. The rule-based logic
component 552 could request impression advertising over click to
action advertising in response to an inference made that the user
does not directly interact with advertisement. In response thereto,
the rule-based implementation can change the amount of
notifications given, the level of detail provided, and/or prevent
edits altogether that would result in a reset.
[0084] The AI component 550 can facilitate automating performance
of one or more features described herein such as predicting user
behavior, extrapolating intermittent location data, adjusting
advertisement interaction options based on machine learning. Thus,
employing various AI-based schemes can assist in carrying out
various aspects thereof. For instance, the AI component 550 could
be trained in a learning mode wherein the user's location is
analyzed against a database of locations in order to create the
behavioral profile. Then, certain patterns of user behavior can be
classified.
[0085] A classifier is a function that maps an input attribute
vector, x=(x1, x2, x3, x4, xn), to a class label class(x). A
classifier can also output a confidence that the input belongs to a
class, that is, f(x)=confidence(class(x)). Such classification can
employ a probabilistic and/or statistical-based analysis (e.g.,
factoring into the analysis utilities and costs) to predict or
infer an action that a user desires to be automatically
performed.
[0086] A support vector machine (SVM) is an example of a classifier
that can be employed. The SVM operates by finding a hypersurface in
the space of possible inputs that splits in an optimal way the
triggering input events from the non-triggering events. Other
classification approaches, including Naive Bayes, Bayesian
networks, decision trees, neural networks, fuzzy logic models,
maximum entropy models, etc., can be employed. Classification as
used herein also is inclusive of statistical regression that is
utilized to develop models of priority.
[0087] As will be readily appreciated from the subject
specification, the subject disclosure can employ classifiers that
are pre-trained (e.g., via a generic training data from multiple
users) as well as methods of reinforcement learning (e.g., via
observing user behavior, observing trends, receiving extrinsic
information). Thus, the subject disclosure can be used to
automatically learn and perform a number of functions, including
but not limited to determining, according to a predetermined
criteria, what constitutes a reset condition of concern, when/if to
communicate impending controller reset, when/if to prevent a
controller reset, preferences for types of data to exchange,
etc.
[0088] In FIG. 6, a methodology 600 for mobile communication device
advertising largely performed by the communication system of FIG. 3
begins in block 602 with an advertising administrator preparing an
advertisement for deployment on mobile communication devices,
according to one aspect. A mobile communication device client
requests new advertisements, such as banner advertisements, from
the marketplace platform (e.g., uiOne Delivery System (UDS), in
block 604. In block 606, the advertising packaging Triglet Service
Adapter (TSA) of UDS requests multiple advertisements (e.g.,
images, metadata, etc.). In block 608, with the advertisements now
received by the mobile communication device, the user interface
displays a banner advertisement. In block 610, the advertisement
provides one or more methods for a user to interact or respond to
the advertisement. For instance, a wireless application protocol
(WAP) browser can be activated by a "click to glance" operation in
block 612. As another example, a "click to call" can be
automatically invoked or a manually dialed called correlated to a
telephone number displayed on the advertisement, depicted at 614 as
"call dialer." As yet another example, the user interface can
provide a coupon clipping function, depicted at block 616. In
response to this interaction, the mobile communication device
launches the advertisement action as requested in block 618. This
interaction is then tracked for reporting advertisement usage in
block 620.
[0089] In FIG. 7, a methodology 700 for end-to-end mobile
advertising can include features enabled by location sensing of the
mobile communication devices. In block 702, demographic profiling
is collected and maintained, although the weight given to such
inputs can be limited, in accordance with one implementation. In
block 703, location-based behavioral profiling is performed, based
upon location reports from mobile communication devices that can
infer behavioral preferences of a user of the device. This process
is discussed below with regard to FIG. 8.
[0090] In block 704, a methodology for selecting and valuing
advertising icon actions leverages the increased communication
options available in the mobile communication device and/or with
the advertiser, which is discussed in greater detail below with
regard to FIG. 12.
[0091] In block 705, behavioral profiling of the user is enhanced
by capturing keywords entered into a WAP browser and other
interactions with the mobile communication device 308. In order to
encompass a broader scope of interaction, a utility can monitor the
user interface directly to capture keystrokes, perhaps correlated
with what is being displayed. Alternatively or in addition, the
keyword characterization can occur upstream in the communication
system, especially for limited capability mobile communication
devices 308.
[0092] In block 706, micro-targeted advertisement process is
performed, as discussed above for FIG. 6, in support of
location-disabled mobile communication devices. Another aspect is
in block 710 discussed below with regard to FIG. 9, provides for
reach-frequency-time advertising. An additional aspect is in block
712 that leverages the location and metric tagging capabilities to
perform an interceptor advertisement campaign, discussed below with
regard to FIG. 10. Yet a further aspect is in block 714 that
leverages the metric tagging capabilities in order to provide timed
couponing advertisements, discussed below with regard to FIG.
11.
[0093] Critical mass billboard advertising methodology (block 716)
can be performed in instances in which location information for a
mobile communication device are used in conjunction with a dynamic
public advertising display, as discussed below with regard to FIG.
13. Also, a consumer-to-consumer advertising can be performed
(block 718) for trusted entities that wish to perform user targeted
advertising.
[0094] In block 720, advertising tracking can comprise in whole or
in part tracking of user interaction with the advertisement. In one
aspect, user interaction can comprise a click to action (block
722), which can cause a click to navigate to a web page of the
advertiser. Click to action can also invoke a request to receive a
call from the advertiser or to caller the advertiser. Click to
action can also invoke SMS or other communication channels. In
another aspect, user interaction can be click to clip (block 724)
that allows a user to clip advertisements for later viewing. For
example, clipping an advertisement in the middle of game play
avoids disrupting the user experience. Promotional content can be
saved for repeated viewing, such as viral videos that provide
entertainment or informational value to the user while serving as
impression or brand advertising for the advertiser. As a further
aspect, the user interaction can be click to locate in block 726.
For example, activating the advertisement can launch navigation
information to the location of the advertiser. Click to locate can
comprise being sensed as entering the location of the advertiser,
which is deemed as a successful impression advertisement. Click to
locate can comprise a user taking his advertisement display to the
advertiser as an electronic discount coupon, which can be manually
or automatically correlated with the advertisement for tracking of
success. In yet another aspect, the user interaction can comprise
click to glance (block 728), wherein an application is launched in
another window of the user interface of the mobile communication
device. In block 730, the user responses associated with the
advertisement can be a source for tracking and updating user
behavioral profile.
[0095] In FIG. 8, a methodology 800 for performing
location-informed behavioral can comprise maintaining a location
database of advertisers and competitors in block 802, in accordance
with one implementation. Such location correlation can include
prospective advertisers that can be approached about end-to-end
mobile advertising. In block 804, locations of mobile subscribers
are monitored. When a subscriber is determined to be in a monitored
location in block 806, then a presumed transaction behavior is
stored in block 808. A pattern can be correlated from one or more
such presumed transaction behavior instances in order to enhance a
behavioral profile of the user in block 810.
[0096] In FIG. 9, a methodology 900 for reach-frequency-time
advertising begins in block 902 with forecasting a
behavioral/demographic population of mobile communication devices
that can benefit from a particular advertisement for goods or
services, according to one aspect. A micro-targeted advertisement
is sent to this forecasted population in block 904. In block 905,
the various uses of the user interface (UI) are monitored, such as
use of the calling screen, a text messaging screen, a webpage
browsing screen, a game screen, personal organizer screen (e.g.,
calculator, calendar, contact list, notepad, etc.). Depending on
the available screen size, etc., advertising space can be
available, either during use or when loading and/or exiting a
screen. At the device, an opportunity is recognized for presenting
an advertisement on the user interface (UI) in block 906. For
example, the device UI is activated as a user selects menu options,
etc., such that the UI is active and viewing of the advertisement
can be presumed.
[0097] In block 908, an advertisement is selected from those
advertisements cached on the device. If the next advertisement
queued for presentation is determined to have expired in block 910,
then the next advertisement in the queue is selected in block 912.
In block 914, with an unexpired advertisement accessed, the
advertisement is presented (e.g., displayed) on the UI. The usage
tracking for this advertisement is updated with an incremented
frequency count in block 916 and cumulated duration of displayed is
monitored in block 918. If a user has not caused an action that
would leave the advertisement banner in block 920, then a further
determination is made in block 922 as to whether a time target has
been reached, either for this particular frequency count or a total
duration of display on this mobile communication device. If not,
processing returns to block 918. If the time limit is reached in
block 922, the advertisement is replaced in the queue in 924 with
the next advertisement and processing returns to block 906. If in
block 920 the user has taken an action that warrants leaving the
advertisement banner, then a further determination is made in block
926 as to whether a frequency count target has been reached. If
not, the advertisement is returned or maintained in the queue to be
repeated after a suitable interval in block 928 and processing
returns to block 906. If the frequency count target has been reach
in block 926, then the advertisement is replaced in the queue in
block 924 and processing returns to block 906.
[0098] The frequency and duration can be prescribed to be
associated with a certain use of the wireless device. An advertiser
may want a game advertisement to only run on users who use their
wireless device for gaming. As another example, use as a telephone
can omit advertisements as the user is paying a carrier for this
service. By contrast, a discounted or demonstration version of a
game can be accepted along with advertisements that warrant the
subsidized cost. However, in the illustrative aspect all uses of
the user interface (UI) conducive to advertising can be used as
opportunities to display advertisements. The calculation of
frequency and duration counts each presentation. Thus, cross
content advertising includes when an advertising campaign multiple
types of wireless device uses. As an illustrative example, consider
a wireless device user Joey, who is a 14-year-old male skateboard
fan, as determined by his behavioral and demographic profiles. A
sports shoe advertiser directs that subscribers should view a shoe
ad four times for a total of 30 seconds on their handset. Joey
views the shoe ad as part of playing a skateboarding game, and then
goes on to the Financial News Network webpage to receive stock
quotes, and receives the same ad campaign from the shoe advertise,
which counts as the second viewing of the ad and part of the 30
second duration. Whatever content Joey views, including his uiOne
Homescreen, Joey sees the shoe ad until the metrics are
satisfied.
[0099] In FIG. 10, a methodology 940 for interceptor
micro-targeting advertisement begins by utilizing a
location-informed behavioral profile in order to predict a
transaction in block 942, according to one aspect. An advertisement
is requested or located in the advertisement cache as an
interceptor advertisement opportunity when the predicted
transaction is at a competitor business. The advertisement billing
rate can be increased, for example, if the advertiser chooses to
send advertisements to those going to competitors. Revenue
optimizing advertising auctioning can thus increase the priority of
such opportunities.
[0100] In some aspects, the advertiser chooses to target a specific
window of opportunity when the user may be the most susceptible to
changing behavior if presented with an advertisement. Thus, in
block 946, the location of the mobile subscriber and the time/date
are monitored in order to comply with the presentation criteria
specified by the advertisement campaign. For example, a user may
tend to go to a competitor restaurant for lunch on Fridays at noon.
The advertiser may choose to present an advertisement to such users
at 11:30 and/or when the user is within three minutes travel based
on current average speed to the advertiser's business and/or when
the user is within half a mile of the competitor's location. In
block 948, a determination is made as to whether the time/proximity
metrics have been triggered. If so, the interceptor advertisement
is presented in block 950. Although not depicted, the user can
interact with the advertisement in a way that could be deemed a
success of the advertisement. In the instance of impression
advertisement as depicted in block 952, the location of the mobile
subscriber is monitored. If a competitor location is entered in
block 954, then in block 956 the advertisement is tracked as having
failed in this instance. If not a competitor location in block 954,
then a determination is made as to whether the interceptor
advertiser location has been entered in block 958. If so, then the
advertisement can be tracked as having succeeded in block 960. If
not the competitor or interceptor location within any reasonable
period of time, then the advertisement can be tracked as having had
an inconclusive effect in block 962.
[0101] In FIG. 11, a methodology 970 for a time couponing on mobile
communication devices takes advantage of time tagged metrics (e.g.,
begin time, target time, and/or end time) associated with
advertisements in and advertising repository in block 972,
according to one aspect. An advertisement cache in the mobile
device is refreshed with timed coupon advertisements in block 974.
The advertisement queue is optimized so that timed coupon
advertisements are scheduled for presentation within the schedule
metric in block 976. Then a determination is made in block 978 that
an advertisement is needed for the user interface. If so, then a
further determination is made in block 980 to confirm that any
begin time metric has been met. If not, the next advertisement in
the queue is selected and processing returns to block 980. If the
begin time has been met in block 980, then a further determination
is made in block 984 as to whether the end time has been exceeded.
If so, the advertisement is deleted from the queue in block 986 and
the next advertisement in the queue is selected in block 982. If
the advertisement end time has not been exceeded in block 984, then
the advertisement is displayed on the UI in block 988.
[0102] In FIG. 12, a methodology 1200 for selecting advertising
icon actions suitable for a mobile communication device begins by
defining an advertising icon suggestive and operable for all the
possible actions which might include, but not limited to,
click-to-call, click-to-brochure, click-to-clip, click-to-message,
click-to-locate, click-to-WAP, click-to-email, click-to-forward,
click-to-promotion, click-to-coupon, click-to-buy, and
click-to-landing (block 1202), according to one aspect. The client
device configuration is accessed to determine limitations on types
of workflows (e.g., communication channels) available, limitations
on input and output of the user interface, etc. (block 1204). A
subset of advertising actions and icons is presented that are
appropriate for the type of device. The list can also indicate
which advertising icons have been supplied sufficient information
regarding the advertiser to activate (e.g., email address,
telephone number, website, uniform resource locator (URL) for
brochure, etc.) (block 1206). In particular, in an illustrative
implementation the list contains a set of actions, each action
contains an icon or an icon reference and a workflow command and
parameters (e.g., a BREW URI on a BREW platform). A selection
process, either automatic or with user prompts, can guide placement
and configuration of advertising action icons for inclusion.
Selection can be influenced by the relative value to the advertiser
of the different types of activation, incorporating a hierarchy for
suggestion or rendering (block 1208).
[0103] In FIG. 13, a methodology 1300 for critical mass billboard
advertising includes tracking the location of a population of
mobile communication devices (block 1302), in accordance to one
implementation. A determination is made of client devices sensed to
be within proximity of a dynamic public advertisement display
(block 1304). Demographic and/or behavior profile of users of the
proximate client devices are accessed in order to select
appropriate advertisements (block 1306). Based on this population
data, appropriate advertisement bids are accessed (block 1308).
Revenues are optimized by selecting an advertisement that generates
the highest bid based upon the sensed population (block 1310).
[0104] In FIG. 14, a methodology 1400 for consumer-to-consumer
advertising leverages the advertising distribution capabilities of
the marketplace platform. User permission is verified for a
particular trusted entity (e.g., individual, fraternal association)
(block 1402), according to one implementation. The time constraints
are defined for the advertisement purchase (e.g., holiday,
birthday, proximity to a meeting event, etc.) (block 1404).
Interactive options are incorporated into the advertisement (block
1406). User behavior is monitored for an opportunity within the
time window for presenting the advertisement (block 1408). The
advertisement is presented on the user interface of the mobile
communication device (block 1410).
[0105] In FIG. 15, an exemplary network distribution device 1500
has at least one processor 1502 for executing modules in
computer-readable storage medium (memory) 1504 for distributing
advertisement content to a mobile communication device. The network
distribution device 1500 can comprise the marketplace platform 106,
302 (FIGS. 1-3) or perform a portion of functions thereof. In the
illustrative modules depicted, a first module 1506 provides means
for monitoring user interaction with a client device to determine
an opportunity to present an advertisement within a first computing
environment. A second module 1508 provides means for presenting a
selected advertisement to the user on the client device while
tracking an exposure metric. A third module 1510 provides means for
monitoring user interaction with a client device to determine
another opportunity to present the selected advertisement to the
user within a second computing environment while tracking the
exposure metric to satisfy an advertising target.
[0106] In FIG. 16, an exemplary mobile communication device 1600
has at least one processor 1602 for executing modules in a
computer-readable storage medium (memory) 1604 for presenting
advertisement. In the illustrative modules depicted, a first module
1606 provides means for distributing a selected advertisement for
presentation on the client device to the user while tracking an
exposure metric. A second module 1608 provides means for
instructing a client device to monitor user interaction to
determine an opportunity to present the advertisement within a
first computing environment. A third module 1610 provides means for
instructing a client device to monitor user interaction to
determine another opportunity to present the selected advertisement
to the user within a second computing environment while tracking
the exposure metric to satisfy an advertising target.
[0107] It should be appreciated that aspects described herein
segregate certain functions for network-level storage and
processing and other functions for performance by a mobile
communication device. It should be appreciated with the benefit of
the present disclosure that applications consistent with aspects
can include configurations with more distributed processing to
reduce computational overhead at a centralized location and/or
reduce communication loads. Alternatively, some limited capability
mobile devices can be served with mobile advertising with
additional processing centralized.
[0108] The various illustrative logics, logical blocks, modules,
and circuits described in connection with the versions disclosed
herein may be implemented or performed with a general purpose
processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application
specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array
(FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or
transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination
thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A
general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but, in the
alternative, the processor may be any conventional processor,
controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also
be implemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., a
combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of
microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a
DSP core, or any other such configuration. Additionally, at least
one processor may comprise one or more modules operable to perform
one or more of the steps and/or actions described above.
[0109] Further, the steps and/or actions of a method or algorithm
described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein may be
embodied directly in hardware, in a software module executed by a
processor, or in a combination of the two. A software module may
reside in RAM memory, flash memory, ROM memory, EPROM memory,
EEPROM memory, registers, a hard disk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM,
or any other form of storage medium known in the art. An exemplary
storage medium may be coupled to the processor, such that the
processor can read information from, and write information to, the
storage medium. In the alternative, the storage medium may be
integral to the processor. Further, in some aspects, the processor
and the storage medium may reside in an ASIC. Additionally, the
ASIC may reside in a user terminal. In the alternative, the
processor and the storage medium may reside as discrete components
in a user terminal. Additionally, in some aspects, the steps and/or
actions of a method or algorithm may reside as one or any
combination or set of codes and/or instructions on a machine
readable medium and/or computer readable medium, which may be
incorporated into a computer program product.
[0110] While the foregoing disclosure discusses illustrative
aspects and/or implementations, it should be noted that various
changes and modifications could be made herein without departing
from the scope of the described aspects and/or implementations as
defined by the appended claims. Furthermore, although elements of
the described aspects and/or implementations may be described or
claimed in the singular, the plural is contemplated unless
limitation to the singular is explicitly stated. Additionally, all
or a portion of any aspect and/or implementation may be utilized
with all or a portion of any other aspect and/or implementation,
unless stated otherwise.
* * * * *
References